Private label products—products branded by a wholesaler-distributor—represent a break from the more traditional wholesale distribution approach of reselling manufacturers' branded products. In our new research study, Facing the Forces of Change^®: Lead the Way in the Supply Chain, we found that private label strategies by wholesaler-distributors will expand substantially over the next five years.

Private labels will strengthen wholesaler-distributors' relationships with their customers. However, they will strain distributors' relationships with their suppliers by challenging the wholesale distribution channel's traditional …